Page 64 of Scorpion

I know he’s alive.

I know he’s fine.

But I need to see him and touch him to get rid of every single doubt clouding my mind.

“I suggest doing as she says before we have another death on our hands,” Mathijs muses from his spot on the couch.

The doctor chuckles, then gives some advice I know he won’t follow, and by the time we’re finally alone, I think I’ve lost the ability to breathe. A cacophony of black and blue mars his pale face, ringing around his eyes and along his jaw and cheek. I can barely see the glint in his bright green eyes through the swelling and bloody skin.

“I shouldn’t have killed the motherfucker,” I say, my voice sounding like it comes somewhere from hell. I stalk forward until I’m staring down at him. Tentatively, I touch his mottled skin. “I should have brought him back here and removed every single bone from his body with him wide awake. Death was a fucking mercy compared to what I would have done to him.”

Mathijs wraps his fingers around my arm. Fury ruptures through my veins at the sight of the rope marks around his wrists. He presses his bloody lips against the scar on my forearm before twisting my hand to rub the diamond ring.

“They don’t deserve a place in the history books beside you, Lieverd. But their names will be lost to whispers and hidden in the shadows, forgotten to time. You? No one will ever forget you. I’ll make sure of it.”

I capture his lips with mine, careful not to hurt him. Heat explodes between us as the kiss deepens to a point that probably hurts him. He needs to know how much I care about him—how much I love him despite not saying the words. Actions have always spoken louder, and I know without a shadow of a doubt that he’s reading what I’m trying to say.

He pulls me onto his lap, then releases a pained groan that has his entire body seizing. I quickly climb off him and give him a stern glare. “We are not having sex when you’re in this state, Mathijs Halenbeek.”

His lips tug up into a strained grin. “But what a way to go.”

EPILOGUE

Mathijs

Two years later

“I suggest you let me go. Not many people can piss my wife off and live to tell the tale. She has a bit of a protective streak.”

I stare down the barrel pointed at my forehead, then nod toward the bindings tying my wrists to the disgustingly tacky foldout chair.

Props to him, though. He chose a lovely location with a stunning view of the city.

Zalak’s brother must share the sentiment since his latest investment involved building this complex from the ground up. Maybe I’ll force the council to refuse to grant him any permits for this building, and I’ll buy it right from him as a nice little present for my beautiful wife.

“On a separate note, do you mind loosening the ropes? It’s a tad tight and I’m not too fond of the burn.”

Plus, Zalak was in a good mood when she left to go ax throwing with Sergei this afternoon. I can’t imagine she’s all too happy about tonight’s unfortunate turn of events.

My head whips to the side when the butt of his gun collides with my cheek. “Shut the fuck up. You killed my father.”

Ah. Yes. Goldchild’s offspring.

At least I think he’s Goldchild’s. They both have the same sleepy eyes and bad teeth. I honestly didn’t care to ask for specifics on whose DNA he shares. I mean, whoever his father is—was—he clearly wasn’t meant to belong on Earth.

Really, he might not even be Goldchild’s son since he hasn’t asked for the operation that I inherited from the dearly departed cunt of a man. Although, I have to thank him. With the higher quality counterfeits that he designed, I’m now richer than I could have ever dreamed.

I spit out the crimson liquid to the side, careful not to get it on my clothes.

He shifts his weight and rolls his shoulders before squaring them. I narrowly stop myself from grimacing when he presses the murder machine against my forehead.

“Have you ever heard of the saying, ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’?” I ask, crossing my legs and leaning back into the fucking uncomfortable chair. “My wife can have a bit of a temper. Unfortunately for you, she also has a phenomenal aim.”

“Any last words?”

My lips twist with a frown. “Yes, actually. How about duck?”

“What—”

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